We have written in support of boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel HERE. This seems to be one of the only ways forward to help incentivize the Netanyahu government to actually support peace. Although – neither political party has the chutzpah …certainly and most ironicly President Obama (it means audacity) … to say we will not continue to give Israel $3 billion a year out of American taxpayer’s pockets so they can fund their apartheid state. I wish to see a prosperous and vibrant Israel, but not any more than I wish to see a prosperous and vibrant Palestine state. Israel’s policies have isolated themselves and I hope the international community punishes them economically until they “do the right thing”.
“No one bears greater responsibility for the trap Israel finds itself in today than Mr Netanyahu”
~The Economist
The Jewish newspaper Haaretz has the story:
While British food retailers have for some years now been labeling products that are grown or manufactured in settlements and in some cases boycotting them entirely, this is the first move by a major company to end all dealings with companies that export products from within the Green Line and from the settlements. The main companies that will be impacted by this decision are Agrexco, Mehadrin and Arava.
The announcement came this weekend following years of campaigning by pro-Palestinian organizations in Britain that have been lobbying for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. Co-op, the fifth biggest supermarket chain in Britain has emphasized that this is not a boycott of Israel and that it will continue doing business with companies that can guarantee none of their products originate from outside the Green Line.
Naomi Klein is pro-boycott and divestment – article HERE:
Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause – even among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors in Israel. It calls for “the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions” and draws a clear parallel with the anti-apartheid struggle. “The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves … This international backing must stop.”
Yet even in the face of these clear calls, many of us still can’t go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. But they simply aren’t good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tool in the non-violent arsenal: surrendering them verges on active complicity.
Samah Sabawi says the thread is unraveling:
This year, more than ever, people have began to question Isreal’s democracy especially as the Israeli government moved to reinstate its infiltrator law, a 50 year old law that targets not only Palestinians but also all asylum seekers regardless of age. Israel was also criticized for a barrage of other draconian laws reflecting its insecurity and discriminatory nature, like the law that was passed allowing communities in the Negev and Galilee regions smaller than 400 households to refuse potential residents on the basis of their ethnicity or religion. And for those who find such acts reprehensible and would like to do something about it…say like boycotting Israeli settlement goods, Israel is ready for that too. They have also passed a law that gives settlers the right to claim economic injury from a call to boycott and to actually sue the organizers of the boycott without needing to have any proof of such damages.
The Economist reminds us of Israel’s sabotage of the peace process – article HERE:
No one bears greater responsibility for the trap Israel finds itself in today than Mr Netanyahu. As prime minister in the late 1990s, he did more than any other Israeli leader to destroy the peace process. Illegal land grabs by settlers were tolerated and quietly encouraged in the confused expectation that they would aid territorial negotiations. Violent clashes and provocations erupted whenever the peace process seemed on the verge of concrete steps forward; the most charitable spin would be that the Israelis failed to exercise the restraint they might have shown in retaliating against Palestinian terrorism, had they been truly interested in progress towards a two-state solution. Mr Netanyahu believed that the Oslo peace agreements were a mirage, and his government’s actions in the late 1990s helped make it true.
In case you weren’t aware….the most recent list of goods that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip aren’t allowed to have because Israel’s occupation says so can be found here at the Economist. After all – we don’t want these lunatics to have access to canned fruit or fresh meat. <sarcasm/>
Source: HERE
